FIRST REACTION to WITHIN TEMPTATION (Shot In The Dark) ◼️🎤👊 

Within Temptation has a live DVD called Black Symphony that is a concert played with a live orchestra. A lot of potential for content there.

This probably wasn't the best song to react to for a first-time listen for this band. "Angels", "Memories", "Solemn Hour", "What Have You Done?", and "The Howling" are iconic tracks by Within Temptation you should get around to if you plan on reacting to them again in the future. They will showcase more of their normal sound. This song is actually from their album called The Unforgiving, which is a concept album - and arguably one of the band's best albums ever made - but without the story and concept, this song may not hit as hard as it should. Thanks Chase!

I would really like a reaction to "ice queen" or "see who I am" or "stand my ground" great songs. Good reaction as always! Your music ear is amazing!

The thing with Within Temptation is that their sound has changed quite a bit. The reason they are recommended in your Nightwish videos is because they used to be Symphonic Metal. In order to explore this side of them I recommend you listen to songs from the albums Mother Earth, The Silent Force and The Heart of Everything. (Eg. Mother Earth, Ice Queen, Stand My Ground, Angels, Memories, Jillian, Somewhere, The Howling, The Truth Beneath the Rose, Our Solemn Hour). PS. They are also recommended in your Nightwish videos because they are a Dutch band and Sharon is considered one of the four Dutch "queens" of metal, together with Floor, Simone Simons (from Epica) and Anneke Van Giersbergen (from The Gathering, her own solo projects and more collabs that I can remember, including Amongs Stars, which you've already reacted to).

There are a lot of great Within Temptation songs. Give Angels, Paradise(what about us), Faster, The Reckoning or Stand my Ground a listen

Good reaction, as always. I have a lot of recommendations when it comes to Within Temptation. The concert Black Symphony is a good one to use for a lot of the older songs. Somewhere (live with Anneke van Giersbergen) - this one is a must watch. Truth beneath the rose (Black symphony) Angels Memories Mother Earth Ice Queen Paradise (With Tarja Turunen) Iron And there are so many others. I'm a bigger fan of their older songs (Albums: Mother Earth, The Heart of Everything, The Silent Force), but their newer albums are good too.

This is a good song, but it’s not I think a good representation of their catalogue. I think I would recommend The Howling, Dangerous (ft Howard Jones), Raise Your Banner (ft Anders Friden), or Covered By Roses. They have a song called We Run they did with Xzibit which I personally LOVE and their new single Entertain You is fun as well. Personal story with this band: the first time I heard this band was randomly on Pandora way back in 2007-2008 with the song “What Have You Done” ft Mina Caputo. My mind was instantly blown and bought this album that day. Like a lot folks probably, Within Temptations was my entry way into symphonic metal.

Within Temptation is a great band. They have evolved their sound with every album. They did gothic / symphonic stuff in their earlier works and went to a more modern sound like the song here. But they do mix it up a lot so you never know what your gonna get. Sharon is a great vocalist , she has a high falsetto side and it just sounds so angelic .... even though this song does not showcase that.

I would like to suggest "What About Us" featuring Taria.

Within Temptation was my gateway drug into Nightwish!!

Lacuna Coil is another to watch out for, Chase!

It's best to listen to the whole album to get the context. Every song has meaning and carries the story along. It's basically about a woman who has been through tragedy and takes it upon herself to hunt down the evil that caused it.

You mentioned about cover band. WT did a special cover album called The Q-music Sessions which they did covers on mainstream songs like Titanium, Summertime Sadness, Grenade etc. I have mixed feelings on what they've come to now because this was the band that introduced me to symphonic metal in the early 2000s. But I've accepted the fact that bands do evolve over the years. Hope you check out more from them.

Love your reactions! Personally, I prefer Within Temptation's older music. Would love for you to do a reaction to some songs from their Black Symphony concert. My picks: -Our Solemn Hour -Somewhere (with Anneke van Giersbergen) -Jillian

You need to listen to Angels or Memories by Within Temptation. Those are amazing and her vocals are beautiful. Please and thank you!!!

**vibrates excitedly** I was just asking for some Within Temptation!! This is definitely very different from their music I'm more familiar with (The Heart of Everything album). It's interesting to hear/see the differences and similarities. Thanks Chase!

Yes, Sharon is Dutch, gorgeous and has the voice of an angel - remind you of anyone? ( Floor, Simone (from Epica), Anneke, Charlotte (from Delain) ). What ARE they putting in the water in NL? Great reaction again. Thanks, Chase.

I legitimately did a squeal and clapped my hands when I saw this notification. Lots of great work to listen to.

They are a Dutch symphonic metal band that started the same time as Nightwish 1996. They are considered one of the pioneers of female fronted symphonic metal bands. The lead vocalist is Sharon den Adel who founded the band together with her partner Robert Westerholt. She applied, and was admitted, to the conservatory for opera training but did not like it so she changed over to the arts-academy within her first semester. So apart from that short stay she is complete self-tough. There she studied clothing design and management and completed it successfully. She has mainly used these skills in designing outfits used on stage. They have had a rather successful run in clubs for couple of years where their performances were constantly sold out. Because of that they got invited to the biggest festival in the Netherlands "Pink Pop". Even though they had a very early start the concert was a huge success. They released their single "Ice Queen"shortly after expecting it to be very successful but it did not do much until somewhere in December that year a dj played it on the radio. Suddenly the song shot up in the charts and even took the number 1 spot. Now other countries started to pay attention. The song you just listen to is from their Unforgiving album. They were discussing their next album idea when they started discussing the music they listed to when they were in high-school. With that idea in mind they started writing songs that sounded similar to songs from that era without being covers. It also turned out that a lot of the band members also read comics. So they developed a 4 part comic to accompany the album. Sharon knew a classmate from her Arts-academy that was working at Marvel at the time so she asked him to make some drawings. He again on his turn introduced her to one of the Marvel writers and that is how that came about. So you were spot on this sounding familiar as it was supposed to. Sharon stated that she does not like it when people put a label on the band. She thinks this hinders their creativity and they like to reinvent themselves over and over again, yet still maintaining their Within Temptation style. A few years ago she had a kind of burn-out that lasted 4 years and she considered quitting the scene entirely. Even her 30 yearlong relationship with Robert Westerholt (her high-school sweetheart) had come to screeching halt. They even separated for couple months but managed to work their issues out. When she finally reached the end of the tunnel it turned out she written songs to work through her issues. Slowly she started playing the songs to family and friends who all told her the same thing "it might not sound like Within Temptation but you should release it anyway. The solo album she released was called "My indigo". You can figure out the issues she was struggling with from the lyrics. This reinvigorated her passion for the band and they released their latest album "Resist". To get a taste of her solo album listen to "Out of the darkness" ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-85VqEu5pIm8.html If you are interested on what they sound like as a symphonic metal band then take a look at "The promise" from there Black Symphony concert where they were supported by a full symphonic orchestra and choir. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-39k1IQoeLAU.html

Can you imagine that she has no vocal training at all? She is a god given talent. Made my day thank you.

Sharon was very criticized for their vocals in this album "unforgiving". She said that the way that she was sing in was because was planned like that. The hole album came out with a comic book and the songs was about that history Maybe yo can check some song of Black Symphonic live I really suggest "the promise", an amazing song from their first album's and an amazing vocals and arrangements.

Awesome, Chase !!! Love Within Temptation ! I think you will love their concert from 2008 in Rotterdam...Black Symphony. And they have Tarja Turunen teaming up on Paradise ( What about Us ), a very fine song ! Enjoy !!!

I've been hoping for a Within Temptation reaction, so an instant like from me. I agree with others about doing Raise the Banner and Paradise. I would also say Somewhere especially done live.

The promise or somewhere from black symphony live 🥰

YESSSSS!!!!! Having seen your Nightwish videos I’m sooooo happy you’ve now discovered my absolute favourite band!!! Thank you!!!!

So now knowing that WT has large fanbase on your channel, maybe can do a poll on which WT song to react to next? Yeah they do sound more 'commercial' now than they were back then. I personally like anything from Mother Earth up until The Heart of Everything. Do check out more from them. Sharon, the vocalist, is amazing live.

As Within Temptation is a very varied band every album has something new and showcases something else. So I'm just glad you started with them. Fair to point though, this one is from a concept album which also had a comic book. It was quite the change when this came out, because all the others where heavily influenced by symphonic metal, this was more rock. Still they are the reason I listen to metal so they hold a special place in my heart. Fun to know is that the lead guitaris (Ruud Jolie) has a side project called Maiden United. And at first it was a Iron Maiden coverband but they did also some awesome stuff on their own.... while I'm typing this it's probably time you should check out Ayreon. Arjen who is the main composer, is the grandfather of Dutch prog symphonic metal, he has amazing projects. Sharon was on the album "Into the Electric Castle" and it's my favourite because of the storyline.

Within Temptation and Nightwish are two bands that just about defined my high school years! Within Temptation has a song 'Paradise (What about us?) that feats Tarja, there's even a live video of them singing it together. On a rec note, Starset just dropped a live video of their track 'Trials' which does a really good job showing how they put together their sound in a live show.

Yay, one of my favourite bands. Hope you do more. Good vid Chase thanks.

I'm fairly new to this band as well ... I heard "Sinead" the other day and I can't get it out of my head... super catchy rock song.

The Howling, let us burn and dangerous are really good songs as well

This was my first time seeing this band ! Very nice ! Great Reaction, as always !

Yeah! I was listening to this song last night. Very cool. Thanks for the reaction!

while i LOVE this song, it's one of my favorites from them, this is a band that has gone through several stylistic transitions and you should definitely react to some of their older, more symphonic stuff. "the howling", "our solemn hour", or "frozen" would be great to see. edit: if you react to "the howling", definitely choose the live version from the black symphony concert. the music video version changes the song a fair amount, definitely to its detriment imo.

CHASE! Awesome as always! Welcome to some of the other Symphonic Metal bands. Which is why the keyboards are so predominantly in the front of every other instrument like you mentioned. Within Temptation released their first album less then a year after Nightwish back in 1996. Sharon den Adel the lead singer is Married to Robert Westerholt who is the bands Rhythm Guitar Player (Bald with beard 5 o'clock shadow). Roberts little brother Martijn Westerholt was the original keyboard player but back in the year 2000-2001 roughly he came down sick and wasnt sure if he was going to pull through it, and in fact finished his final concert with them in a wheel chair. Unsure of his future he stepped downn and Martijn Spierenburg took over as keyboard player. Martijn Westerholt eventually DID get better, and he met Charoltte Wessels and formed the Symphonic Metal band DELAIN. So .... Nightwish who started it all with Symphonic Metal, paved the way for Bands that followed, Within Temptation, Delain, Epica and Kamelot being some of the most popular world wide. The community of musicians in the Symphonic Metal realm, are all like family with one another, which is NOT what you normally see. It is not uncommon for artists from other Symphonic Metal bands to appear on each others albums. Sharon has appeared on DELAIN's Debut album called Lucidity back in 2006 as only one example :)

Good intro to the group! As always, love the reaction. Very insightful and smart. I would say the songs that more showcase who they are would be The Howling or What Have You Done.

So glad you reacted to Within Temptation! This is the first track of what IMO is their best album "The Unforgiving," and it's the first one where they move away from the more traditional symphonic metal style to a more commercial (still somewhat symphonic) hard rock. From the older stuff, check out pretty much anything from their Black Symphony concert ("Our Solemn Hour" , "Jillian", "Truth Beneath the Rose" and "Somewhere" feat Anneke van Giersbergen are personal faves). Anything off "The Unforgiving" is going to be excellent ("In the Middle of the Night" and "Stairway to the Skies" are particularly good) and of course "Paradise (What About Us)" feat. Tarja is a must! "Raise your Banner" and "The Reckoning" from the new album are also good, but that album is similar, straightforward hard rock.

I'm honestly a huge fan of 'middle period' Within Temptation, both their older stuff and their newer stuff doesn't quite hit as hard for me, but anything off of the albums The Silent Force, The Heart of Everything, or The Unforgiving are really great in my book (This one is from the latter). Will echo a few people I saw say the Black Symphony concert is amazing. It is, it's great.

Suggestion: "Paradise" from Within Temptation!

Not my favorite song, I prefer the older more symphonic stuff: stand my ground, ice queen and somewhere (duet with Anneke van Giersbergen and full orchestra - their harmonies give me goosebumps every time)

Try Amaranthe (not the NW song, the band) for size. Would go nice after this as a step up in terms of heft. Do Or Die is a great recent one, but any of their older ones like 365, 1.000.000 Lightyears, Drop Dead Cynical, Maximize, The Nexus, Invincible, are great too.

I found Within Temptation as Nightwish switched to Anette I clicked song after song on RU-vid and liked everyone , they have changed over the years from goth/metal, symphonic to maybe more rock style , I would say their stage performances and sets are quite theatrical, Sharon has certainly worn some different outfits on stage. The new single Entertain you is very good and has video here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-a7-8hK2f_So.html . Memories for something introspective, Dangerous ft Howard Jones (good video of with Wingsuit flying) For me duets with Tarja, Paradise(What about Us) and also Annete van Giersbergen, Somewhere, are also special.

Other great Within Temptation songs: "And We Run feat. Xzibit" --> Symphonic metal meets Rap "Paradise feat. Tarja" --> The first Nightwish singer and Sharon are a great combination "Angels" --> Great singing (as always) and a cool video "Somehere" --> A great duet with Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering) and a complete orchestral support „Angels“ -> Beautiful song and cool video

Really good reaction with a good and most of all interesting analysis of the song. Thank you !

Thx for the granted request on your Q&A 🤟😁

This and Nightwish are some of the fav bands that I grew up with. Both of them I discovered in video games highlight montages. Really cool you're doing Within Temptation now and I hope you get to their other songs cause while this is a banger, I feel for a "beginner" in listening to them, you deserve to hear others.

WT has been around as long as Nightwish. They have so much evolution in their sound over their history. I would recommend checking out stuff from the earlier days. The music was less structured, Sharon's vocals were more dynamic, the tone was often more dark. The ballads were beautiful. Live DVD's like "Black Symphony" and "Elements (Let us Burn)" were amazing. I can't wait to see more. One of my fav bands of all time.

It's a good radio tune. Something fun to listen to while driving. I think I'll grab this track for my mix.

I recommend from the live dvd "Black Symphony": Ice Queen, Hand of Sorrow, The Promise. And they have a song feat Tarja called Paradise (what about us).

And We Run with Xzibit, and their live performance of "Somewhere" with Anneke Van Giersbergen. The melding of their voices is quite hard to describe.

fair reaction, chase. this one would not have been my choice for reaction. too standardesk as you mentioned. not the best way to get to know wt. there are many better ones: "paradise ft. tarja", "dangerous ft. howard jones", "angels" "frozen" "reckoning" "somewhere live black symphony", "faster", Jillian live silent force tour", "entertain you", "raise your banner", "and we run ft. xzibit", "mother earth live black symphony". have a nice day and greetings from germany.

I love Sharon's vocal the most in that song with Armin van Buuren.

Hi Chase (CinC GVA), I liked that too and your analysis, learned stuff again. Thank you.

Cool reaction. Somewhere and Paradise are some very good next one's:-)

I would just like to recommend listening to a few other old songs...on your own, the video resolution may not be up to today's standards but the vocals are really good. These are from a 2003 live show, another daytime outdoor venue. This song, Enter, features the guitarist Robert growling in contrast to Sharon's hauntingly beautiful singing! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8cIyYCoyfTc.html This song, Ice Queen, has the crowd jumping, moshing, and the band having so much fun. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xbTpM1lso7Q.html Another song, same album, same concert...The Promise...can really hear the symphonic influence in this one. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CNKdTHFfNKQ.html And lastly, one of my favorites, Mother Earth. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PF7y-1Ezsqs.html

Stand My Ground is an old favorite, and their cover of Radioactive was actually the first version I heard, so I was surprised to hear the original. Faster brings to mind the TT (both Radioactive and Faster were used over scenes from the TT and Irish roads racing).

Hi, Chase. Your reactions are great. Excellent work. Sharon has one of the best voices in the rock and metal scene. I recommend listening to older albums Within Temptation like Mother Earth, The Silent Force or The Heart Of Everything. These are metal jewelry :-).

ive been a within temptation fan for years! glad to see u check em out and this is my favorte song from them. id also recommend "What About Us" featuring Taria and "We Run" feat Xzibit

For me it's not that they completly changed their sound over the years/albums, but that they discovered new sounds to add to their songs, this means that in 1 album you can find songs more "poppy", others more hard, fast, soft and/or symphonic (or songs with all that in them). They don't stay within 1 box, but have lots of boxes from where they pull their magic. But well, at the end of the day is about personal taste, I particularly, love them a lot, any era or album. So I really hope you continue to reacting to them, there's 20+ years of music to choose.

This is neat! And you picked up on something Sharon is actually really well known for, which is the breathy way she sings. Yes, she puts more emotional oomph in it here, but she actually tends to sing that way a lot. Its an acquired taste, but many people get over how "improper" it is because she does it so well and still has so much breath control even with that technique. It would be really cool to see you check out Somewhere, the live duet she did with Anneke Van Giersbergen.

Hi Chase, I would recommend "solemn hour" live from the black symphony show. That´s a great song.

Wow, a reaction video on WT's Shot In The Dark? Wow, really didn't expect that one. Thanks for sharing with us. As you wrote, it's pop rock and when I heard this song for the first time it embodied everything I started to dislike about WT back then and their departure of their gothic metal roots. I pretty much hated this song. But somehow I kept listening to it, getting caught up in that catchy melody and refrain, the nice build up to the guitar solo part and Sharon's energetic rock voice (I have to mention that I fell for WT cuz of Sharon's trademark angelic voice). By now, Shot In The Dark is top five in my WT song list, cuz it is what it is: A perfectly made pop rock song. Now, I saw that you also reacted to WT's And We Run ft. Xzibit. Another pretty commercially influenced WT song. But have you already reacted to one of their songs from the Black Symphony live album which was recorded with a full classig orchestra and choir? That was WT's peak, symphonic metal at its finest. Really, please, do some reaction on Black Symphony live songs such as The Promise, Mother Earth, or The Truth Beneath The Rose. I'd really appreciate that and would enjoy your expert analysis.

After "Faster" this was the next song to hook me in to the sound of WT, Sharon and essentially symphonic 'Dutch' metal. Definitely something in the Holland waters.

Black Symphony “Stand My Ground”, “Somewhere”(best duet ever), and not from that show by the official video of “And We Run” awesome rock and rap collaboration. They used to be a lot more symphonic centric but have shifted to a more pop metal sound. I prefer their older stuff, personally.

Greetings from Tennessee! Good song, catchy tune, but I will say not my favorite from them. My most favorite is Angels (official live video). As always, great analysis, Chase! Have the damn best day ever...lol! 🤘☮💗

Hey, Chase. Heard you've been in touch with my friend and your countryman, Brad. That's really cool. He said you guys may do a collab. That would be great. I'm glad I could get you guys together. You're both alright chaps. Anyway, another great reaction, bro. But you already know that. Have a damn good day. Regards to 🇬🇧 from 🇺🇸. 😊

Don't think I've heard this one from them. I dig it. They did a song with Tarja from Nightwish called Paradise. And We Run ft. Xibit is a fun one too

Within Temptation was my band and led me to Epica, Nightwish and Xandria. All either Dutch bands or band Bands with Dutch front vocals.

This song is alright but like a lot of others are saying their style has changed a lot over the years. If you listened to Ice Queen you'd be like is this the same band? Sharon's voice has changed too, I miss her more angelic voice but regardless she's amazing and still does it sometimes. I can see why this feels like a pretty generic rock song to you, you should check out more of their discography! Sharon has also done plenty of songs with other bands, I like the Delain song she sang with Marco (Nightwish) No Compliance.

So much to do by them. My second-favorite Symphonic Metal group, after Nightwish. Another music video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mf97F-SpBQU.html; Collaboration with Tarja: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Dy6MpsDPKts.html; Showcase for her voice: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bhzJO34SCoc.html

This is one of their later songs that is more commercial. Their earlier stuff was much more interesting and symphonic. I'd highly recommend 'Our Solemn Hour' and 'Mother Earth' from the Black Symphony concert. Also the duet 'Somewhere' from the same concert which I have seen referred to as 'the best duet ever.' Whilst I wouln't go that far, it is a very beautiful song.

Within Temptation usually does more complex symphonic metal with a little goth influence. This was one of their radio songs. Check them out at "The Black Symphony" live. Perhaps "Our Solemn Hour" Or maybe "Stairway to the Sky" or "The Howling"live. Sharon is a very good singer. She is capable of much more than this song shows.

I just love the fact that u r reacting to all my favorite bands hahaha nice reaction! Try with a song from Within Temptation calle Mother Earth (live). Another good one is Our Solemn Hour (live too). Also, there's a song with Tarja called Paradise!

You should definitely react to their older tracks, which gives you more of an idea how they sound normally :) "Memories", "Mother Earth", "Angels" etc. "Memories" sets me on tears everytime. These songs show the talent of her voice a little bit more. She never took singing lessons btw. :)

Welcome to Within Temptation, enjoy the ride because like Floor, Sharon is a goddess

Please do The promise live (elements concert) by within temptation

Super Produced Song, Wow!!!!!!!!!!!

Oooooh.....another rabbithole 😁👍🏻

Paradise (What about us) ft. Tarja...remember her?), Dangerous ft. Howard Jones, Faster, Stand My Ground are all alternate places to get a look at this bands character. Thanks for the review Chase. Hope all is well after the earthquake today.

Check out the live concert in Amsterdam 2014. Good stage production. A great concert!

Also check out Within Temptation feat. Anneke Van Giersbergen - Somewhere (Live) HD Link ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7eqBmEO5MHE.html A fantastic duet here

Love Within Temptation!

Hi Chase, I love your reactions. Within Temptation is one of my first metal experiences. Since then I went deeper into the rabbit hole. Could you some day react to the band Epica? The song I would like to see your reaction on is "Consign to Oblivion" live at the Zénith in Paris. Greetings!

I really appreciate your positivity and appreciation for music and musicians. It is a commercial rock song, and no, there's nothing at all wrong with that. Is it the technical genius of, say, Nightwish. No. But I've enjoyed a number of their songs of the years. Ice Queen was where I first found interest in them, and their more recent cover of Titanium is a joy. I really like that even when you're not blown away, you can still find things that were well done, and point out great choices that a group made. There are several vocal coaches who do reactions that I enjoy, but I have to say that you find some great insights that I don't hear anywhere else.

Another good reaction Chase. I first got into Within Temptation around the same time as I did Nightwish. I believe at the time their latest album at that time was The Heart Of Everything. Believe it or not I slightly preferred Within Temptation to Nightwish. Especially after seeing the Black Symphony concert (one to look out for by the way). However theses days, the pendulum has swung towards Nightwish. A Shot In The Dark is indeed, as you say, quite commercial compared to their earlier stuff. So when you're happy having listened to studio work I highly recommend The Black Symphony show. They performed this with a full orchestra and full voice choir. In fact they have done this twice now with the other show being Elements, both of which are on RU-vid. Black Symphony - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zy4Ntw8_8F0.html Elements - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KuMB2pTsZP0.html

Good reaction again Chase. Thanks. Here you are listening to another Dutch female singer :-)

For an introduction to Within Temptation, 'Angels', 'The Promise' or 'The Howling' would have been good. For live, anything from Java Island or Black Symphony 😁

Somewhere (live with Anneke van Giersbergen) is an absolutely MUST watch. It's a masterclass of singing technique

I would very much enjoy your take and analysis on KXM. Power trio "supergroup" consisting of Doug Pinnick on vocals and bass, George Lynch on guitar, and Ray Luzier on drums. Three albums in and it still blows my mind that they're still under most of the world's radar. Scatterbrain or War Of Words would, in my humble opinion, be solid first time exposure songs. Doug rocks hard at 70.

Guess your pick really was a Shot In The Dark 😆 Indeed not the most representative song, but glad you liked it. Speaking of the dark: anything WT from Black Symphony is better to start with (kinda the end of their first evolution phase).

I would recommend Our Solemn Hour live from the elements concert, Full choir, Orchestra and has great production. Hard to find on youtube though.

Most definitely take a listen to them again!! "Shot in the Dark" is a great song, but not a great representation of what Within Temptation is capable of. I'm gonna echo a few other commenters and recommend "The Promise" and "The Truth Beneath the Rose" from their Black Symphony concert as well as "Forgiven" for something more emotional and "Somewhere" live featuring Anneke Van Giersbergen for a great duet! Also, a fun fact is that Sharon Den Adel, the lead singer, is completely self taught! I can't wait to see you react to them again!

This one is very high in my rankings for favorite WT songs, that said it wouldn't have even been in the top 20 that I would have used as an introductory song to the band.

You are likely going to have a lot of requests for the song 'Angels', and rightly so. But even though the live performance is excellent, the first viewing of that particular song should be the Official music video. It helps with context of the song, making the song itself so much more powerful. Once you see the video, I highly recommend checking it out live next. Because it is genuinely a good performance.

Had the pleassure of watching them live whit that album. They are really good live. Plenty good songs what have you done now, mother earth, our solem hour are good picks

Way back in the day (late 90's) a couple Finnish friends recommended this band to me. This band is why I found Floor Jansen and she's the reason I found Epica. For that, I will always love WT. Also, I'm not opposed to whatever musical experimentation Sharon wants to try. It usually sounds pretty good. This is one of the few concept albums I absolutely love. If you want heavier try the song Enter.

Hey Chase love the reactions! If you want to check them out live you should take a look at Our Solemn Hour from the black symphony, it's one of my all time favorites of theirs!

Within Temptation is another great metal band from the Netherlands. They were more symphonic back then, now they often experiment with their music, but it is still great. "Shot in the dark" is not a bad song, but I would not recommend it for the first reaction to Within Temptation. They have much more great songs (more heavy, more symphonic, more complicated). They've made an amazing live DVD concert called "The Black Symphony". You can react to almost every song from there and it will be cool!

Paradise (What About Us?) feat. Tarja is one of my favs by them.

That album (The Unforgiving) was my introduction to WT - judged by album cover only at the store... great choice! 🙌🙌🙌